I witnessed the fruition of Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry and former Head Coach Mark Jackson make Draymmond Green earn a starting spot in the early 2010’s. I
witnessed the game Stephen Curry introduced himself to the NBA world with his 54 point masterpiece at Madison Square Garden. The Golden State Warriors had probably the best run we had seen since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal won 3 out 4 Finals over the course of 4 years dominant the opposition. They got some resistance from the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trailblazers along the way but Shaq and Kobe dominated for 4 years and had Karl Malone never went down the 2004 Finals I think the Lakers beat the Pistons that year. e
Every Golden State Warriors fan believes so long Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are out there the Warriors will be a threat for the title next season but I just don’t see it. I really think the Warriors were exposed after the 2016 NBA Finals and LeBron James should be sitting on 4-5 titles right now but Kevin Durant’s move to Golden State blew everyone’s mind including mines even though I was not all that shocked. To see a Superstar of Kevin Durant’s magnitude join the team that beat him it was bothered me more than him wanting to play with the Golden State Warriors. I’ve always seen Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson as limited players, even when they were down 3-2 in Game 6 and Klay Thompson was having a field day with 30 points on 8-12 from 3 point range I still felt like the Toronto Raptors could’ve turned up the defense the 4th quarter and win the game. Or maybe the Warriors complete the 3-1 comeback and win Game 7 in Toronto and Kevin Durant would have had no choice but to leave Golden State.
I recall Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals Stephen Curry was being shut down by the OKC defense and Klay Thompson came around and lit the Thunder up for 40+ points putting on a shooting display I hadn’t seen since Ray Allen’s barrage on the Lakers 2008. Klay went unconscious shooting coming off-screens and Stephen Curry closed out the deal Game 7 with 36 points and the Thunder lost the series. I feel like the Cavaliers exposed the Warriors by making someone else other than Klay or Steph beat them and through the coarse of a full game I believe Curry and Thompson can become very limited offensively. They no longer have Shaun Livingston,Kevin Durant,and Andre Iguodala who all served as play-makers,defenders, and scorers on the floor for Golden State, not to mention the veterans those guys were. The Warriors have a Top 5 Pick for this coming draft and the only player which make sense drafting is James Wiseman. The kid is a Wild Card, he has potential to be a Top 5 Big Man in the NBA but not in his first season and the Warriors need a win now team which I just don’t see on paper.
I knew the Warriors needed a go to scorer after watching Harrison Barnes go 7-47 in the NBA Finals, I guess you can blame him for shooting so poorly. A good 40 percent of those shots go down and Golden State probably wins the series but how much better will Andrew Wiggins be at the Small Forward position? At this point I don’t expect Andrew Wiggins to become a Superstar but he will never be Kevin Durant which is why the Golden State Warriors were such an unstoppable team. I will say that if Kawhi Leonard had played in the 2017 Western Conference Finals I believe he would have had a chance to knock off Golden State considering he had the Spurs up close to 30 points by half-time of Game 1. Chris Paul does not go down the 2018 Western Conference Finals and I would have bet the house on the Rockets winning one of the last 2 games to close out the Warriors with all the momentum they had going into Game 6 but maybe Chris Paul chokes a 3-1 lead just like he did on the Clippers against the Rockets back in the early 2010’s. Stephen Curry does a majority of his damage moving off the ball and I will remind you he is close to 33 years old, and I won’t say he won’t me MVP level but you need stamina and durability to play through 82 games and 4 rounds of Playoff Basketball to win a Championship.
The Warriors have a ridiculously young team, Andre Iguodala is likely not coming to Golden State being that he signed a 2-year deal with the Miami Heat and so far in Miami he does not look like the same player he was on Golden State. Maybe that is due to a new system but even with Igudala’s addition I don’t see the Warriors winning another Title again. Call me a hater if you want but I am just being realistic, I saw former All-Star from the Miami Heat Tim Hardaway say the Warriors will be back in the Finals and I don’t know how much he has been keeping up with Basketball but I don’t see it happening. Kevin Durant put the Warriors over the top and if Giannis Antetokoumpo or Joel Embiid is not walking through that door it’s over for the Warriors as far as winning Titles go. Sure Steph and Klay might make the Western Conference Finals next year but I don’t see them going all the way.
To conclude I know the Warriors’ fan base will want more Titles over the future and Joe Lacob and Bob Myers will do all they can to get Giannis in Golden State but I can’t see Giannis going to play with the same players Durant chose to play with. When I look at a team I look at the veterans the team has, even though the Warriors had a young core of Steph,Klay,and Green back in 2015 they had veterans like Iguodala,Bogut,Speights,Barbosa,and Varejao who made up the Warriors’ rotation. The Warriors have young guys like Lee,Bowman,Poole,Smailagic,Chriss,and Paschall as part of their rotation and they are going to add another young piece? I can’t see Stehen Curry and Klay Thompson carrying these young guys anywhere, sorry Warriors fans its over.
D-NBA 